VIDEO: Meet the $49 Android PC for the Five Billion People Market

Digital Divide is a real problem. While most of western culture and growing eastern cultures are enjoying in over seven billion computing devices, the fact of the matter is that only two billion people have access to those devices.

The real challenge is to manufacture a computer for the five billion people with no capabilities of spending hundreds of dollars on a contemporary computer or a smartphone. In order to address that, VIA Technologies launched so called aPC or Android PC. This personal computer, complete with system and storage memory targets the widest market at the lowest price yet. The $49 price does cost more than Raspberry Pi, but it provides a complete PC experience at fraction of the cost. VIA built in the custom user interface running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and built many popular applications, such as Angry Birds or more importantly, access to online suite, PDF read capabilities etc. Furthermore, the aPC is a registered device in the Google Play app store, meaning you can install all the applications for smartphones and tablets.

In a presentation held at the TEDx Shanghai event Richard Brown, Vice President Marketing at VIA Technologies, referred to this product as "A Bicycle for Your Mind". We invite you to watch the video from Shanghai:

Time will tell if VIA made the right bet… but combining Google Android as the free operating system with a highly affordable system should make a lot of waves. Post-PC era indeed. Time has come for real CE, Computing Everywhere.

About the AuthorTheo Valich

Focused on creating synergy between various industries, creating next-gen solutions.Passionate about the new and emerging technologies. Work experience spans from game development and event organizing, editing magazine and on-line publications to aerospace development.Specialties: Team Leadership / Management / Technical Consultant / Funding.Enjoys travelling around the world and meeting new people. :)